Transport container with removable under-carriage or truck



March 17, 1964 EM- M N 3,125,353

TRANSPORT CONTAINER WITH REMOVABLE UNDER-CARRIAGE OR TRUCK Original Filed May 51, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet l March 17, 1964 K. GOHMANN 3,125,353

' TRANSPORT CONTAINER WITH REMOVABLE UNDER-CARRIAGE 0R TRUCK Original Filed May 31,- 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 J v {if 4 II IIIIIIII/III/II/III II -Ill 1 I III/ II III March 11, 1964 K. GOHMANN 3,

TRANSPORT CONTAINER WITH REMOVABLE UNDER-CARRIAGE 0R TRUCK Original Filed May 31, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 United States Patent 3,125,353 TRANSPORT CONTAINER WITH REMOVABLE UNDEREARRIAGE 0R TRUQK Karl Giihrnann, Haarstrasse 6, Hanover, Germany Original application May 31, 1961, Ser. No. 113,900.

Divided and this application July 2, 1962, Ser. No.

Claims priority, application Germany May 30, 1960 Claims. ((11. 28tl179) This application is a division of my copending application Serial No. 113,900, filed May 31, 1961, and more particularly relates to means removably securing together a transport container means and under-carriage means.

In forwarding goods, particularly in the case of rail traffic, small portable containers with a volumetric capacity up to about three cubic meters are frequently used. These include iron-bound wooden chests, on which running wheels are permanently mounted. These chests have angle irons on the edges.

This invention relates to transport containers with removable under-carriages or running mechanism for forwarding goods which can be locked to the container mounted thereon, and in which the front wall of the transport container, or at least a part including the upper transverse board, is so arranged as to be rockable forwards. According to the invention the locking device is so constructed that the container, when mounted upon the running mechanism, is automatically looked to the latter, by means including locking bars, which when unlocking takes place, are simultaneously unlocked but are brought back into the locked position as soon as the container is lifted off the under carriage. By the operation of removing, the container is however raised so far above the under-carriage that when the locking bars are thrown back it is no longer held fast by them.

For this purpose there are arranged, on the under part of the container and on the running mechanism, the elements of a combination which consists of a toggle-linkage system or trip-switch simultaneously controlling the locking bars, and a re-setter engaging in the toggle-linkage system or trip-switch this re-setter automatically bringing the opened locking bars back into the locking position after the container has been lifted off the vehicle.

This coupling device according to the invention couples the container automatically to the under-carriage as soon as the container is placed upon it.

The locking device may comprise for instance two stirrup-shaped locking bars arranged on opposite sides of the under-carriage or in the middle, which, when the container is placed on the under-carriage automatically engage over the backs of wedges arranged on the feet of the container, and thereby couple the container to the under-carriage and lock them together. This locking mechanism has to be opened by means of switch-flaps which are actuated either by means of lifting shoes on a forked stacker which are inserted between the container and the running mechanism, or by pressing down the switch-flaps with the foot, if the container is being lifted off its under-carriage with a crane. The locking bars on the under-carriage automatically move back into the locking position when the container has been lifted oil the under-carriage. A safety device is provided which prevents accidental actuation of the switch-flaps, which might bring the locking bar out of its locking position into the unlocking position.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 shows in perspective various transport containers, namely a flat pallet, a freight-box pallet, and a chest provided with a raisable lid, above an under-car- 3,125,353 Patented Mar. 17, 1964 riage or truck to which any one of these containers can be looked so as to form a unit;

FIGURE 2, a plan view of the under-carriage;

FIGURE 3 a side view of the under-carriage with the under part of a container mounted thereon in section looking in the direction of the arrows IIIIII in FIG- URE 2;

FIGURE 4 a cross section of the parts shown in FIG- URES 2 and 3, as seen in the direction of the arrows IV-IV in FIGURE 2 FIGURE 5, a partial sectional view, as seen in the direction of the arrows VV in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 6, a plan view of a portion of an undercarriage, with a modification of the locking device shown in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 7, a portion of FIGURE 4, illustrating a safety device, which is released by the container being mounted upon the under-carriage; and

FIGURE 8, a view similar to FIGURE 7, showing the position of the parts when the container is not mounted upon the under-carriage.

Various transport containers and an under-carriage are illustrated in FIGURE 1. In this figure, A is a fiat pallet, B a freight-box pallet, C a chest provided with a raisable lid, and D an under-carriage to which any one of the containers A, B or C can be locked, so as to form a unit.

The locking device that couples and locks the container to the under-carriage when it is placed thereon is provided in part on the under-carriage and in part on the under portion of the container. The part of the locking device fitted to the under-carriage, in the constructional example illustrated in FIGURES 1 to 8 of the drawings, comprises two stirrup-shaped locking bars 1, arranged on opposite sides of the under-carriage, and connected with one another by a trip-switch or togglelinkage system. The other part of the locking device, fitted to the under portion of the container, consists of a wedge 4, fitted for instance to the middle foot 2 of the under part 3 of the container, with the back or bridge 5 of the wedge arranged at right angles to the inner wall surface of the foot. In the locking position the locking bar I engages, as shown by FIGURES 2 to 4, over the bridge 5 of the wedge.

The trip-switch system connecting the two locking bars 1 with one another holds the two locking bars either in the locking position, shown in full lines in FIGURES 4 and 7 or in the unlocked position, shown in broken lines, in these figures. The system comprises a two-armed lever 6, control rods 7 and 7' pivotally mounted thereon, and a compression spring 9, which can swivel about a point 8, and is attached to one end of the lever 6. The control rods 7 and 7' are attached to the locking bars 1, and hold them either in the locking position or in the unlocked position. This alternative holding action of the rods 7 and 7 arises from the fact that the pivoted spring 9 is of the over-center type, acting as a toggle.

The length of the bridge surface 5, or in other words the height or thickness of the wedge, is so dimensioned that the upright locking bar 1, standing in the locking position, cannot pass beyond the dead-center position of the trip-switch system when the locking bar, upon the container being placed upon the under-carriage, comes out of its erect position into an inclined position owing to the inclined surface of the wedge 4. The locking therefore takes place positively, because the spring '9, acting upon the lever 6 of the trip-switch system, brings the locking bars 1 back into the locking position before the lever 6 of the trip switch passes beyond the dead-center point.

The container mounted upon the under-carriage can only be lifted off the truck when the locking bars 1 are unlocked. For this purpose, one of a number of inclined switching flaps 10, which are mounted fast upon the shaft 11 to which the locking bar is secured is pressed down. Upon the depression of one of the switching flaps, the others are positively actuated with it. When this unlocking takes place the locking bar 1 approaches a resetting member 12 mounted fast on the foot 2. This resetting member 12 brings the locking bar 1, which is in the unlocked position, positively into the upright locking position when the container is taken off the under-carriage. Then, however, the locking bar 1 can no longer pass on to the wedge bridge 5, because the latter, upon the container being lifted has become higher than the locking bar 1.

If the locking device is required to engage the container at points additional to those shown in FIGURES l to 4, the control rod 7 may be attached to a rotatably supported disc 13 (FIGURE 6) to efiect the additional locking by means of the rods 7". As shown in FIGURE 6, for example, the corner feet 2' of the container are provided with apertures which accommodate the ends of the rods 7" when the latter come into the locking position.

Furthermore, the under-carriage is also provided with a safety device for ensuring that the locking bar 1, when the under-carriage is unoccupied, since it is then freely accessible, is not brought accidentally and unintentionally out of its vertical locking position into the unlocking position. For this purpose, a safety bolt 15 (FIGURES 7 and 8), subject to tne pressure of a spring 14, is provided with an abutment 16, facing the rockable locking bar 1. The abutment 16 points in the direction of the lower arm of a lever which is mounted on the rockable locking bar 1, and serves as a catch, which holds the locking bar in its locking position. The abutment 16 is secured to the safety bolt 15 at such a height that it is only when the bolt is depressed that it cannot hinder the movement of the locking bar 1 into the unlocked position, as FIGURE 7 shows. The locking bar therefore admits of being brought out of its locking position into the unlocking position only when the abutment 16, with the safety bolt 15, is depressed so far that it sets free the lower lever arm of the locking bar 1.

The switching flap 10, therefore, when the container is locked to the under-carriage and the container foot has depresesd the safety bolt 15, can be depressed either with the foot, if the container is being lifted with a crane, or with the lifting shoes of a forked stacker inserted between the under-carriage and the transport container, and in this way the trip-switch or toggle-linkage system can be actuated. The under-carriage is thereby unlocked from the container, and the container can be removed from the under-carriage.

The safety bolt 15 is preferably fitted to the undercarriage at a position where a foot of the transport container comes to stand when the container is put on the under-carriage. Upon the removal of the transport container from the under-carriage, the locking bar is brought positively into the locking position by the resetting member 12, as previously stated, so that it therefore always stands ready in the locking position for another container to be placed on the under-carriage.

The abutment 16 standing at the level of the rod 7, so long as the safety bolt 15 is not depressed, then prevents the locking bar 1. being accidentally pushed out of the vertical locking position. The abutment 16 does indeed permit a small amount of play of the trip switch or togglelinkage, with its locking bar 1, when the container is placed upon the under-carriage, in order that the locking bar 1, which then slides along on the surface 5 of the wedge 4, may be able to fulfil its locking function. The abutment 16, however, prevents the locking bar 1 unintentionally overstepping the tripping dead-center point of the trip-switch or toggle-linkage system and being thereby unlocked.

The invention is not to be confined to any strict conformity to the showings in the drawings, but changes or modifications may be made herein so long as such changes or modifications mark no material departure from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, and desired to have protected by Letters Patent is:

1. in an assemblage consisting of a transport container means, a removable wheeled undercarriage means, and coupling devices removably securing the container means and undercarriage means together, said coupling and securing devices including locking components on one of said means, further locking components on the other of said means movable into and out of locking engagement with said first-named locking components, a trip switch system operably associated with said further locking components for holding the further locking components in either locking or non-locking position with respect to said first-named locking components, and re-setting means operably associated with said further locking components and with one of said means operative upon the removal of container means from the undercarriage means for returning the further locking components to the locking position.

2. The assemblage as claimed in claim 1, in which said trip-switch system includes a two-armed rockable lever, a control rod connected to each arm of the lever and to each of the further locking components and spring means operably coupled to the lever for urging the lever to positions holding the further locking components in either locking or non-locking positions.

3. The assemblage as claimed in claim 1, in which said further locking components are arranged on opposite sides of the undercarriage means and each is defined as a stirrup-like member and in which said first-named locking components are carried by said container means and each is defined as a wedge-like member.

4. An assemblage as claimed in claim 3, in which each stirrup-like member is secured to a shaft rotatably mounted in said undercarriage means and flap means secured to each shaft for turning said shafts and said stirrup-like members to non-locking position.

5. An assemblage as claimed in claim 4, in which each re-setting means is secured to said wedge-like member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,064,005 Pritzl June 10, 1913 1,463,743 Lankston July 31, 1923 1,554,509 Kearney Sept. 22, 1925 2,053,969 Olds Sept. 8, 1936 2,424,429 Ramberg July 22, 1947 2,963 0 Abolins Dec. 6, 1960 

1. IN AN ASSEMBLAGE CONSISTING OF A TRANSPORT CONTAINER MEANS, A REMOVABLE WHEELED UNDERCARRIAGE MEANS, AND COUPLING DEVICES REMOVABLY SECURING THE CONTAINER MEANS AND UNDERCARRIAGE MEANS TOGETHER, SAID COUPLING AND SECURING DEVICES INCLUDING LOCKING COMPONENTS ON ONE OF SAID MEANS, FURTHER LOCKING COMPONENTS ON THE OTHER OF SAID MEANS MOVABLE INTO AND OUT OF LOCKING ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID FIRST-NAMED LOCKING COMPONENTS, A TRIP SWITCH SYSTEM OPERABLY ASSOCIATED WITH SAID FURTHER LOCKING COMPONENTS FOR HOLDING THE FURTHER LOCKING COMPONENTS IN EITHER LOCKING OR NON-LOCKING POSITION WITH RESPECT TO SAID FIRST-NAMED LOCKING COMPONENTS, AND RE-SETTING MEANS OPERABLY ASSOCIATED WITH SAID FURTHER LOCKING COMPONENTS AND WITH ONE OF SAID MEANS OPERATIVE UPON THE REMOVAL OF CONTAINER MEANS FROM THE UNDERCARRIAGE MEANS FOR RETURNING THE FURTHER LOCKING COMPONENTS TO THE LOCKING POSITION. 